All Silksong major abilities and where to get them

(Image credit: Team Cherry)

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All main abilities
Optional abilities

Hollow Knight Silksong abilities include those used for exploration, like the double jump, dash, and more, and those special Silk Skills used for slaying foes with increasing skill. Hollow Knight Silksong itself has over a dozen different abilities and powers for you to unlock throughout the course of the game, but there's only 10 abilities that you need to access to make it through the main story (and that's down to 8 if you don't bother with the optional Act 3). If you're having trouble finding them all, we've got the locations and order of every single power and ability for Hornet in Silksong, including ones you might not even know about!

All major abilities in Silksong

Ability maps for Hollow Knight Silksong — (Image credit: Team Cherry)

Silkspear. A silk-powered attack that sends a damaging lance forward. Found by interacting with the Shrine at the marked location.
Fast Travel. Use the Silkspear to break the bonds on the Silksong Bell Beast here and you'll be able to fight it. Win the fight and you'll unlock the Fast Travel system.
Swift Step (Dash/Sprint). Leave Deep Docks by the top-right exit and come back down through the path to the left, effectively doing a U-turn. Once back down, just head left to get the Swift Step from a shrine.
Drifter's Cloak (Glide). After meeting the Seamstress at this location in Far Fields, she'll task you to find Silksong Hokers and harvest their Spine Cores. Complete this quest and she'll make you a gliding cloak.
Cling Grip (Wall Jump). The Silksong wall jump is in Shellwood, requiring a circuitous route outlined in the linked guide. Keep in mind that you'll have to beast the Silksong Sister Splinter boss fight to reach it.
Needolin. Accessible once you have the Wall Jump, defeating the Silksong Widow boss fight about Bellhart will allow you to get this instrument. The Needolin will gain further features later, but here it allows you to play tunes that open sealed doors, as well as read the thoughts of those you play it near.
Clawline (Harpoon/Grapple Hook). Found in the Underworks' Cauldron, you'll need to venture down from the Choral Chambers or Whiteward to reach this area. It takes a small amount of Silk, but it allows you to throw a harpoon ahead and yank yourself forward, like a second kind of dash.
Faydown Cloak (Double Jump). Not accessible until you find the Clawline and access Mount Fay, this whole region is a nightmare. To get the Silksong double jump, you need to scale Mount Fay as part of a complex and deadly series of platforming challenges, which can't be completed without the Clawline harpoon. You also need to complete them quickly, as you'll freeze to death unless you can reach lanterns and bonfires in time.
Silk Soar (Super Jump). Once you reach Silksong Act 3, the story will bring you down to the terrifying Abyss. You'll be trapped there until you can reach the spot marked, which unlocks the Super Jump. This is a charged move that propels you upwards as long as there's something above you to hook onto, but without any real limit.
Elegy of the Deep. A new tune for your Needolin unlocked as part of the story after escaping the Abyss, the Elegy of the Deep allows you to enter dreams and memories at key locations, effectively unlocking new locations for you to explore if you can find the correct entry point at which to play. Most of Verdania is unlocked this way.

All Silksong secret abilities

Here we've listed all the secret, hidden, and optional Silksong abilities that you can go through the game without necessarily getting. These are numbered in the order that they can be accessed, but it's possible to miss any or all of them.

Thread Storm. Found at the peak of Craw Lake, you'll only need the Swift Step and Glide to platform up here. The Thread Storm is an area attack that hurts anything around Hornet at the cost of Silk.
Needle Strike (Charge attack). Approach the marked space from the west side of Blasted Steps. You'll need to beat a boss fight with the Great Conchflies to reach the NPC here, called the Pinstress. She'll teach you a charged attack.
Sharpdart. Use the Needolin to open the door in the Wormways, and at the end of which you'll find a Shrine that teaches you this Silk Skill. It makes Hornet charge forward, damaging enemies along the way.
Rune Rage. If you can find the Silksong Apostate Key in the Putrified Ducts, you can unlock this cell in The Slab that leads to a locked room. Break the seals on it to have a boss fight with the First Sinner. If you can win, you'll get the Rune Rage Silk Skill, which causes a random series of explosions around Hornet.
Cross Stitch (Parry/Counter). If you can make it through The Mist in Silksong via Bilewater, you can reach a building called the Exhaust Organ, at the top-left of which is a boss fight with The Phantom. Slay The Phantom, and you'll get the Cross Stitch, which is a Silk Skill that allows you to parry enemy attacks and do heavy damage to them.
Pale Nails. After defeating the final boss of Act 2, return to the arena to find this Silk Skill. It causes several daggers to appear behind Hornet, then launch themselves ahead to home in on enemies.
Beastling Call. In Act 3, return to the Grand Bellway to have a boss fight with the Bell Eater. If you win, you'll get a new tune for the Needolin that allows you to be teleported back to the last fast travel point you used without penalty.
Sylphsong. After unlocking all Crests and upgrading them all to maximum slots, return to the NPC Eva in Southeast Weavenest Atla. She'll teach you the passive ability Sylphsong, which causes Benches to also regenerate your Silk, not just health.

Keep in mind that some of these are certainly easier to get than others, and they're not all equally as helpful. Sharpdart might be very well hidden, but it's not especially helpful unless in very specific encounters. That being said, Thread Storm can be very effective in the early game, and really makes the difference to a struggling player.

Feeling like a little bug as you explore Pharloom? Find all the Silksong Mask Shards to make yourself extra durable! Or if you need greater firepower, check out how to find all the Silksong needle upgrades and Pale Oil locations!